HOME
by thunderbird5
Summary: My entry in the Tracy Island Writers Forum's 2015 "Rescue Me" challenge. Even though there were already five sons in the Tracy family, Brains learn that they apparently had hearts big enough to happily welcome one more into the inner circle. Thanks to TB's LMC for helping me with this story.


Home 

Disclaimer: How I wish the boys were mine. But no, they belong to someone else.

It was a busy day for Brains. He had just finished a new antenna he had designed for Thunderbird Five and his stomach rumbled. Walking out of his lab, he noticed that the house had gone quiet. _I didn't hear any alarm go off,_ he thought as he passed a few doors. Looking at his watch and seeing that dinner had finished only an hour before, he wondered where everyone had gone. Maybe he'd find them still hanging around the kitchen. 

Mrs. Tracy had left his dinner warming in the oven. He pulled it out, turned the oven off and took his meal to the table, passing the door leading into the lounge as he went. His eyes drifted to the large windows that made up the far wall, and to a small glow coming from the vicinity of the beach. Putting his plate on the table, he ran to the windows and peered into the darkness. It looked like a fire. Having forgotten all about the food, he hurried off to see what was going on. 

When he finally arrived at the edge of the beach, he heard the Tracy men laughing at something. Not wanting to intrude on their family moment he turned away, only to step on a branch. It snapped with a loud crack. He froze and listened, hoping no one had heard it. 

***

Gordon rose to his feet when he heard the snap of a palm tree branch. "Guys, did you hear that?" 

His four brothers nodded their heads. Gordon started walking towards where the sound had come from. "I'm just going to check it out. Maybe it's that old tree's branches falling again." 

"Like the one that almost took your head off?" Scott asked. 

Gordon grimaced. "Yeah. Like that one. I keep meaning to cut this thing down." 

Their laughter followed Gordon onto the path, into deep vegetation.

*** 

Brains, who'd decided to return to the villa, didn't notice Gordon coming up behind him until a hand landed on his shoulder. "Hey, Brains, what're you doing out here?" 

He jumped and turned as Gordon's hand slipped away. "I, uh, just wanted to see why there was a fire down here at the, ah, beach." 

"Just me and the guys having a little family time. Come sit with us." 

"But it's, ah, family time." 

Gordon grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the campfire where the rest of the brothers were sitting. 

When John saw who Gordon was bringing down the path with him, he motioned to his brothers to make some room. "Hey, Brains, coming to join us?" 

"No, ah, I was just-" 

Virgil patted the sand next to him. "We were about to ask John over here to tell us the story of how he got those scars on his face as a kid again. Reliving old memories." 

Sitting down next to Virgil and watching Gordon as he playfully shoved Alan to one side, Brains repeated, "Memories?" 

Virgil nodded. "From as early as I can remember, we would always sit outside our grandparents' house around a small fire in the back yard that our folks made. We'd talk about different things that happened, or we'd take turns making up stories and telling them to each other." 

Brains adjusted his glasses. Intrigued, he asked, "How did all this begin?" 

John leaned forward, arms resting on his tented knees. "Our mother and I loved to sit outside and watch the stars. One night in the fall it was chilly, so we decided to make a fire

after watching the stars for an hour or so."

John smiled as he remembered those days he'd had with his mother. "Grandpa helped us and soon after that, the rest of the family joined us." He shrugged. "It just became a thing." 

Scott nodded as he added, "Each time we visited the farm, we'd build the fire and sit around it together. That's how Grandpa taught me to light a fire using the old Boy Scout method." 

Brains noticed that Virgil looked sad for a moment. "After Mom died, the family tradition just stopped." 

Shifting a bit on the sand, Brains swallowed hard, then observed, "But you're doing it now." 

"Yeah," John acknowledged. "While we were sitting around the pool one late afternoon, we decided we wanted to do it again, and Dad liked the idea." 

"It brings us closer as a family and helps us work things out," Scott added as he placed some more wood on the fire. "We're always so busy what with rescues and the 'birds and inventions and the businesses, it gives us a way to stop long enough to reconnect." 

"Do I have to tell you something, too?" 

Alan had moved to seat himself next to Brains. "You don't have to tell us anything tonight if you don't want to. Just sit back, relax and listen. You're welcome to stop us and ask questions if you want." 

Brains nodded his head and thought, not for the first time, how glad he was that Thunderbird Five no longer required the presence of a Tracy to operate. It was kind of nice having all five boys on _terra firma_ , even if he was feeling more than just a little out of place at the moment. 

That was when he noticed a gap between Scott and where Alan was now sitting. John must've noticed because he, too, looked at the empty spot. "Dad's usually here with us," he explained. "The business trip to Oz kept him away this week." 

"Come on, Johnny, start telling your story already." Gordon grinned as he poked John in the ribs. 

John absently rubbed at a small scar above his left eye. In the glow of the fire, Brains could see it clearly. He also realized he'd never noticed it before, not even when treating John for minor injuries. "Always a reminder of the window I got rescued from after Virgil pushed me through it." 

"Not on purpose." 

Alan's eyes were glued to his older brother. "Please tell us the story again?" 

"Yeah, only don't make me out to be the bad guy," Virgil groused. 

John smiled. "Okay. Since Brains is new to the whole thing," he said, winking at his genius friend, "here's how I got the scar you see today."

*** 

"It was a really hot day on the Kansas farm and Mom had told us to play inside the house until it was a bit cooler out so we wouldn't get heatstroke. Alan was taking his afternoon nap while Gordon was helping Mom with the dishes. 

"Well, as good as a four-year old can help," Gordon added with a cheeky grin. 

Brains chuckled. 

"Scott was in his room doing homework. Mom had left the air conditioner in their room on for Dad so when he came home the room would be nice and cool for him to relax in for a bit. I think he'd been gone to Houston and was having a bad trip back with canceled flights and stuff." 

"Yeah, he told us that the last time you mentioned this story," Alan interjected. 

John continued. "Well, we knew that Mom and Dad's room was off limits and that we shouldn't jump on any of the beds in the house. Virgil and I asked Mom if we could lie down on their bed for a while to cool off, and promised we'd be good. She gave us the okay, so got some of our toys to take into the room with us. 

We'd been playing for a while, then Virgil bounced on the bed, which made our toys jump all over the place. He said something about the bed being really bouncy, so I reminded him that Mom didn't want us to jump." 

"Goody two-shoes," Virgil jibed good-naturedly. 

"For all the good it did me!" John rejoined. Virgil chuckled. "Virg stopped jumping, but he fell face-first onto the bed. It made half our toys fall on the floor." His face took on a more serious look. "I remember him pressing his face into Mom's pillow. He said it smelled just like her. 

Brains could see that his friends were all lost in their own memories of the day, but Alan had a sad expression on his face. _He probably can't remember any of it,_ he thought. His musing was interrupted by John continuing the story. 

"Just as I tried to get off the bed, Virgil bounced again and overbalanced me. I ended up bouncing on the bed, too. Boys will be boys, you know, as Grandma's always saying, so I decided to jump even higher, to try and touch the light fixture on the ceiling." 

"You were convinced you could reach it, even though I couldn't," Virgil chuckled. 

John shook his head at the memory. "It wasn't long before I started to get tired of jumping on the bed. I was a bit dizzy when I stopped and walked over to the window to have a look outside. The window was right there on the wall that the bed was shoved up against." 

Scott nodded. "Dad confessed once he'd done that on purpose so he could see if we went out to play early in the morning before they were up." 

Alan shook his head. "Parents." 

The other brothers nodded in agreement.

"Next thing I knew, Virgil pushed me from behind." 

"I was coming to join you," Virgil protested, a defensive tone of voice telling Brains this was something he'd had to explain before, many times. Virgil's eyes rested on the scientist's face. "I stepped on one of the Lego pieces we'd brought with us. Those damn things are sharp!" 

Scott made a face. "Tell me about it. I think the soles of my feet are permanently scarred." 

"When I jumped to get off the damn thing, I fell into John's back."

*** 

John nodded. "And before I could even react, I heard the sound of glass breaking. I yelled Virgil's name but he didn't answer." 

"I ran to get Mom." 

"It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Finally I realized my head had gone through the window, but when I tried moving, the glass felt like it was going to cut my head off." 

Alan made a face. 

"I ended up holding onto the headboard that was just within reach of my right hand, to try and keep from moving at all. With my head outside the window and my hands on the inside and with my knees half-bent, it wasn't easy to not let my head down or keep from pulling it back. There was a really cold, sharp point resting against my throat. I got really scared that my feet might slip from under me. I started panicking and yelling for Mom." 

Brains couldn't help but picture John in the predicament. "You must have been scared out of your mind." 

John looked skywards for a moment. "That's why I remember that day so well. Scott had heard my cry for help and when he came into the room and saw what had happened, he turned and ran out again. I knew that we were in deep trouble on top of being scared to death, so I started crying. As the tears ran down my face, they mixed with blood and splashed onto the window sill. It was when I saw the blood that I really started freaking out." 

Scott patted John on his leg. "Aw, did you really cry?" 

John scowled at him. "I was only six years old." 

Scott grinned as Virgil and Gordon laughed. 

"Mom showed up with Scott and Virgil in tow. When she saw how I was stuck in the window, she told them to go get some tools to break the glass with. She told me not to move, then put her hands under my chest to help keep me up. 

I was shaking by the time you two returned with a couple hammers," John continued, indicating his older brothers with a nod. "Virgil held my head while Mom and Scott started chipping the glass away from around my neck and head. 

I don't know how long I was stuck in the window for, but when Mom finally pulled me out, I rolled off the end of the bed and ended up in a heap on the floor. It didn't even register that I was hurt until Gordon showed up." 

"You lifted your face to see who had come into the room. There was blood everywhere. I flipped out." 

"Facial wounds always bleed more than you're actually hurt." 

"Exactly, Brains, but at our ages, we didn't know that," John replied. He grinned at the scientist. "We weren't all child prodigies, you know." 

Brains felt his face heat up and ducked his head. 

"Anyway, Gordon ran out the door yelling that I was all cut up. Mom told me to stay right there so Dad could take me to the emergency room. She was being very calm and cool, and even at that age I knew she was being just a little too calm and cool. When she went after Gordon, that's when I decided to have a look at myself in their wall mirror. I was cut up, all right. I had a hole in my bottom lip, a cut on my left eyebrow and blood all over my hands and shirt. It didn't hurt, though, so I actually thought it was pretty cool." 

Gordon frowned. "And you call _me_ weird." 

"You _are_ weird," John said. 

Looking at John closely, Brains could see small scars on his face; the eyebrow one was hardly noticeable in amongst the blond eyebrow, but there was another on his lip that ran cross-ways to the vertical lines. "Was your mother angry?" 

"Yes and no. She was angry at both me and Virgil for jumping on the bed, but was more worried about the damage to my face." 

"Oh, yes," Virgil said with an exaggerated flair as he reached out and mock-stroked John's cheek. "Have to keep the pretty boy pretty." 

"Shut up," John laughed, swatting Virgil's hand away. 

Brains just stared at them. The interaction was normal for the Tracys; he'd been around them long enough to be used to it. But it mystified him still, each time he watched and listened. And it drove home to him more and more how isolated he felt from them. There was no one who knew him as well as these men knew each other, and it was precisely because they were brothers that this was so. 

"When Dad got back to the house, only about fifteen minutes later, he dropped his suitcase on the floor, gave me one look and asked how it had happened. I don't think he was too happy to have to come home and go right back out to the hospital." 

"What did he say?" Brains asked, genuinely curious as to how a much younger Jeff had reacted. 

"Picked me up and carried me to the pickup. Didn't even yell at me." 

"I think he and Mom were fully aware what it'd be like raising five boys," Scott said. "They were prepared for stuff like that to happen." 

"How could they have predicted anything like that?" Brains wondered aloud. 

"Most boys are rambunctious," John explained. "I know you've talked about how you couldn't understand early on why the kids in school with you preferred getting muddy and shoving each other around to reading." 

"Well, that's true enough," Brains admitted. 

"Like I said, we weren't all child prodigies," John grinned. 

This time instead of feeling himself get embarrassed, Brains just grinned, rather proud of himself for never having put _his_ head through a window. 

"So basically Mom rescued me that day." 

Alan nodded. "That's why I like hearing that story. It's like, rescuing's in our genes or something." 

"Like Mom lives on through us every time we save a life," Gordon added. 

Brains saw John's face change. "I miss her so much tonight." 

Alan sighed. "I wish I could remember her the way you guys do." 

"As the years go by, it becomes harder for me to remember her," Gordon admitted. 

Brains suddenly realized something he'd never thought of before. He'd always envied the Tracys their family; their closeness. Envied the fact that even though she'd died when they were young, they'd all at least known their mother, and of course, still had their father and grandmother. But he'd never stopped to think about how young they'd been when Lucy had died. Alan didn't remember her at all, apparently, and Gordon only barely. 

It occurred to Brains that maybe never having known your parents was much better than having loved and lost one far too soon. Seemingly confirmed when Virgil, who was drawing in the sand with a stick he'd found, said, "It's becoming harder and harder for _all_ of us to remember Mom." 

Scott got up and started dumping handfuls of sand on the now-low fire. "Our memories may be fading away, but we won't forget altogether as long as we keep this tradition up." 

Brains felt a little embarrassed to be privy to what to him seemed the Tracys' private thoughts about their mother. Like he was an outsider. Like he had no right hearing them sadly say how they missed their mother…a woman he'd never known, but who had to have been something else to produce five sons like these men who were now all on their feet. 

Brains got up and brushed some sand off of his legs. "Thank you for, ah, letting me join you around the, ah, fire tonight." 

He jumped when a hand patted him on the back. "You're welcome to join us again next week," Virgil said warmly. 

Brains smiled as the men turned to head back up to the villa. He'd just been invited into their family in a much more personal way than he'd ever been before. And while he was still a bit unsure of himself, the fact that they'd let him glimpse such a personal family memory warmed his insides in an unfamiliar – but not altogether unpleasant – way. 

Plus he'd learned that maybe rescuing was genetic. It gave him something new to think about, anyway. 

And he'd learned that even though there were already five sons in this family, they apparently had hearts big enough to happily welcome one more into the inner circle. When John stopped and turned to wait for him at the base of the stairs, Brains thought, _I'm finally home_.


End file.
